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After the fall of Osgiliath there was no longer a barrier against the forces of Mordor, which moved on the Pelennor Fields before the city on 15 MarchT.A.3019 as the Great Darkness blotted out the sun. Almost all of Minas Tirith's civilian population was evacuated prior to the siege, and were sent southward to Gondor's southern fiefdoms.[1]

Mordor's troops consisted of some 18,000 Easterlings and Haradrim,[2] several Haradrim war Oliphaunts, and tens of thousands of Orcs; the defenders' numbers were considerably less. the city's garrison likely was no more than 4,000,[source?] the survivors from Osgiliath probably numbered around 1,000[source?] (One third of that garrison were killed), there were about 6000[source?] men from southern Gondor who arrived just before the siege commenced.

Mordor's hosts set fire to the plains and farms outside of the city and hewed apart anyone they found, living or dead. The Orcs began digging trenches and setting up siege equipment and catapults. These were out of range of the city's defenses, as was the city out of theirs. Some of the defenders laughed and mocked this effort, one even claiming that Sauron himself could not break through Minas Tirith's walls.

Their laughter turned to peril and fear, however, when Mordor's massive catapults flung their shot extremely high, well over the city's walls and into the first level. Through Sauron's arts many projectiles detonated and burst into flame. Along with these the Orcs also launched the heads of Gondor's fallen soldiers and other Men they had slain over the walls, causing despair among the defenders.[3] Though these machines could still not inflict serious harm to the immense first wall, the great battering ram Grond (named after Morgoth's weapon from the First Age) was put into action.

At midnight Grond rolled to the face of the city. The Witch-king cried out evil spells unto it, breaking the mighty main gate in only three swings, and the Witch-king rode into the city unchallenged, save by Gandalf. Before Gandalf's strength was put to the test, however, the cock crowed and the horns of Rohan were heard as around 6,000 of their riders joined the battle. Mordor's strategy for keeping Rohan out of the battle had failed twice, both through the defeat at Helm's Deep and the blockade in Anorien. So the Witch-king was forced to ride out and attack them instead of fighting Gandalf and destroying the city.

King Théoden's charge drove the Mordor forces from the northern half of the field, and charging the Haradrim cavalry he slew the Southron chieftain, the Black Serpent, and cut down his standardbearer. Mordor's forces counterattacked, however, and the Witch-king, having rode out to fight Rohan's charge, set upon them and wracked them with fear.

When the Witch-king's fell beast attacked King Théoden of Rohan, the king's horse Snowmane lost control, and was hit by a black dart. Snowmane fell with the king atop him, and the horse landed on him, mortally wounding him. All about the King were his slain knights, and any survivors fled from the Witch-king's terrifying visage. The fell beast raked its claws upon Snowmane's neck and readied to devour Théoden, but the warrior Dernhelm, defending the king's body, stood tearful yet defiant, forbidding the Witch-king to defile the king's corpse. The Witch-king mocked him, telling him that no living man might hinder him. Éowyn threw off her disguise as Dernhelm and revealed herself as "no man at all". The Black Captain remained silent, as if he hesitated slightly due to Glorfindel's prophecy, but heeded it no longer, ignoring the HobbitMerry nearby and attacking Éowyn with great malice. She slew his fell beast, but the Witch-king rose from it, towering over her. With a violent cry that stung her ears like venom he threw his black mace upon her shield, splintering it and shattering her arm. She fell to her knees in bitter pain and he loomed over her, raising his mace to kill her. However, before he could do so, the Witch-king too fell; Merry had wounded him with a sword that had been forged centuries before during the war between Arnor and Angmar and which contained spells against the Witch-king. The spells finally found their target, for the Witch-king was distracted and possibly seriously weakened. Éowyn, with her last strength, drove her sword into the Witch-king's crown, her sword shattering and the Black Captain of Mordor slain, his spirit fading into a shrill voice on the wind. The Black Breath caused both Merry and Éowyn to become gravely ill, and Éowyn's ruined arm kept her from fighting any further that day. They were sent to the Houses of Healing in the city, and command of the Rohirrim then passed to Théoden's nephew and heir, Third Marshall Éomer. Though a demoralizing blow to Mordor's forces on the field, they held together, and Gothmog, Lieutenant of Minas Morgul, assumed command.

At the same time, Faramir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor, was also gravely wounded. Despairing at the visions of defeat that Sauron had sent him via his palantír, and believing Faramir to be beyond aid, Denethor prepared to burn himself and his son upon a funeral pyre. Only the intervention of Peregrin Took and Gandalf saved Faramir, but Denethor immolated himself before they could prevent him.

Meanwhile, the battle turned against the Rohirrim. The Southrons charged with their Mûmakil and wherever they went horses went wild with fear or were trampled underfoot, and the forces of Mordor rallied around them like islands of defense that the Rohirrim cavalry could not overtake. Éomer, grim after the death of Théoden but shocked by the unexpected (seeming) death of his sister Éowyn, the last living member of his family, flew into a berserker rage and charged his cavalry headlong into the larger enemy forces. So great was the wrath of the outnumbered Rohirrim at the death of their King that they broke through the superior Mordor forces, hammering deep wedges into the Mordor legions' front lines. His fury betrayed him, however; the horses panicked at the sight of the towering Mûmakil, and the Haradrim retreated amongst them. Gothmog retaliated against Éomer's advance, sending fierce Variags, elite Haradrim warriors, and monstrous Troll-men against the Rohirrim, and they were set into despair. The cavalry of Rohan were cut off from the rest of their allies. Éomer and his forces retreated to the docks near the Harlond south of the city where he desperately circled up his men on a hill and prepared to fight to the death. When he saw enemy reinforcements sailing up the River Anduin, he sang a solemn and sorrowful dirge, though laughed as he did, preparing to die defiantly as Rohan's final leader.

One of the visions that Denethor had seen was of a fleet of enemy ships with black sails arriving at the landings to the south of the Pelennor in the Rammas, but what he had not seen was that they were actually manned by Aragorn and other Rangers of the North, Gimli, Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir and many reinforcements from southern fiefdoms of Gondor. As Aragorn's army drove north a great part of Mordor's forces were pinned between Aragorn and Éomer's cavalry, and were "caught between the hammer and the anvil". Without the Witch-king's leadership, and with vast numbers encroaching them on all sides, many of Mordor's troops panicked and began to flee; Aragorn's army then linked with Éomer's, and with their aid the tide of battle was finally turned. Despite the Orcs engaging in a cowardly and disorganized retreat, many Easterlings and Haradrim held their ground and fought proudly to the death, delaying the Western host and allowing others to rout. The vicinity of the Rammas Echor was soon empty of Sauron's forces, and a brief respite was won until the final battle before the Black Gate.

There is no clearly stated final death toll for the Battle of Pelennor Fields. There is a definite figure for the army of the Rohirrim that came to Gondor's defence; it consisted of 6,000 riders, and a full 2,000 were killed in the battle, including Théoden. Of the 6 to 7 thousand Gondorian defenders of Minas Tirith, and the large relief force of Gondor's southern provinces led by Aragorn, no definite figure remains. Two days after the battle, Aragorn led an army out to attack the Black Gate that consisted of 7,000 men (When he reached the Black Gate he had less than 6,000); 2,000 Rohirrim and 5,000 Gondorians. The size of Aragorn's relief force may have been over 5,000 or as little as 1,000, it is never stated. Éomer stated that very few of Rohan's horses remained, and either killed or wounded, he could not "hope to lead even two thousands" in the Last Debate. With a number around 18,000 at the least participating and only 7,000 remaining to march out to war, even a conservative estimate would place total Western losses at 9,000 and perhaps more. Forlong, Grimbold, Théoden, and Hirluin were slain in combat, and the near-defeat of Gondor led Steward Denethor to commit suicide during the siege. Minas Tirith itself suffered heavily in the siege, and its strongest gate was broken. A grey rain fell over the city and the plains following the battle's end, putting out many fires much to the relief of its inhabitants. Despite their losses, the arrival of reinforcements from the southern fiefs allowed Gondor to maintain a larger garrison in the city after the Siege than it had at the outset.

As for Mordor's losses, again, the size of Sauron's great army is not definitely known. The full host was estimated at perhaps 75,000. The Orcs and Trolls of Sauron made up most of the force, though it is known that there were some 18,000 Haradrim. (The Rohirrim, consisting of 6,000 riders, were "thrice outnumbered by the Haradrim alone".) Almost all of the attackers were slain or routed; though not specifically mentioned, all of the War Mûmakil were likely killed, along with numerous Trolls, Orcs, and Evil Men. Those whom escaped fled across the River Anduin to East Osgiliath, many drowning in the process; not one living thing was left in the vicinity of the Rammas. Few escaped, and those that did spread word of Gondor's wrathful victory in their homelands. Most grievous of all to Sauron was the permanent loss of the Witch-king, the Lord of the Nazgûl and his most powerful servant. The fate of Gothmog, Mordor's second commander in the battle, is not mentioned.

Although a great and almost miraculous victory, at the subsequent Last Debate, Gandalf counseled that militarily, Sauron would still defeat them. The Free Peoples had managed to destroy an army outnumbering them as much as 5 to 1, but lost nearly half of their own forces. Sauron had suffered a defeat, but he still had other legions and the force that attacked Minas Tirith, while substantial, was but a fraction of his total strength. Rohan and Gondor had been able to secure their flanks, eliminating the threat of Isengard and the Corsairs on the southern coasts, but Gandalf counseled that even with all of their forces concentrated in the main front near Minas Tirith, it would simply result in a war of attrition; either defensively or offensively, Sauron would tactically prevail. Thus, it was agreed that it was impossible to achieve a conventional military victory through strength of arms, and instead to risk all on a last throw of the dice by Aragorn leading a diversionary attack on the Black Gate, to aid Frodo's passage in Mordor.

The battle is the major centrepiece of the last film, although some of the events described above are simplified or altered for cinematic purposes. The Gondorian forces from the kingdom's fiefs are absent, replaced only by the Rohirrim. These are joined by Aragorn leading the "Army of the Dead" (instead of the Gondorian reinforcements) at the very end of the battle. Importance is given to the charge of the Mûmakil, the death of Théoden, and the Witch-king's demise at the hands of Éowyn.

The battle begins with Sauron's forces marching on the city and firing a volley of severed Gondorian heads over the walls (as in the book). Seeing Mordor's overwhelming army, Denethor despairs, and Gandalf assumes command of the defenders. Both Sauron's army and the defenders of Minas Tirith exchange fire by way of catapults and trebuchets. Many Orcs and a few dozen Gondorian soldiers were killed, whilst some catapults and siege towers were destroyed. Then the Ringwraiths, mounted, on top of their fell beasts, descended from the skies, spreading fear throughout the city and destroying many catapults. Meanwhile, Trolls bring forth the siege towers and engage the Gondorian troops and Gandalf in combat throughout the night. As the battle continues in the dark, the Orcs bring forth a giant battering ram named Grond and, with it, the Great Gate of Minas Tirith is shattered, allowing the Orcs, Trolls, and Wargs to invade the city. In the book, the populace was almost entirely evacuated before the battle. In the movie, the women and children remained, and many were slaughtered in the lower levels.

By morning, the Gondorian soldiers had taken heavy casualties and retreated to the higher levels of Minas Tirith There, Gandalf helps them to hold out until Théoden and six thousand Rohirrim arrive, decimating the invading Orcs and routing the Witch-king's right flank; however, Sauron's reserves soon arrive with several Oliphaunts, commanded by the Haradrim, who turn the tide against the Rohirrim. Fortunately, Aragorn arrives later with the Army of the Dead (see Paths of the Dead), and they crush the remainder of Sauron's forces before entering Minas Tirith.